


i could never take the world alone

by sky_blue_hightops



Series: Sun and Moon AU [27]
Category: Rapunzel's Tangled Adventure (Cartoon), Tangled (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Brother Feels, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Moon Powers Varian (Disney), Protective Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider, Protective Rapunzel (Disney), Sibling Bonding, Team Awesome (Disney: Tangled), sun and moon au
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-08-28
Packaged: 2021-03-06 20:00:46
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,511
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26164525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sky_blue_hightops/pseuds/sky_blue_hightops
Summary: The echoing clang of the cell door swinging shut behind them was...familiar. Annoyingly so.
Relationships: Cassandra & Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Rapunzel & Varian, Cassandra & Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider (Disney), Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Ruddiger & Varian, Eugene Fitzherbert | Flynn Rider & Varian, Rapunzel & Varian (Disney)
Series: Sun and Moon AU [27]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1823434
Comments: 20
Kudos: 108





	i could never take the world alone

The echoing clang of the cell door swinging shut behind them was...familiar. Annoyingly so. The pair of guards locking them in didn’t say a word, just exchanged bored looks and left the cell behind. Max - who’d followed them, unsure, wanting to do his duty but not wanting to see the boys hurt - huffed a breath and turned to follow, shooting them one last glance. Eugene nodded. There wasn’t anything else the horse could do.

Eugene groaned, sliding down the nearest wall and drawing his knees to his chest. Varian stumbled after him (still exhausted, probably; still worn out and overwhelmed) and sat heavily, curling instantly into his side, Ruddiger wiggling from his arms to nestle between the two boys. Eugene drew them closer and could only be thankful they hadn’t been separated for the time being.

He wasn’t worried, in the end. The absolute fury in Rapunzel’s eyes when the guards had escorted them away (citing Eugene’s unanswered-for thefts and earlier breakout, Varian’s chaos in the city) upon the four of them reaching the castle spoke for itself. Her loud demands to see the king and queen sounded down the corridor even as the pair of guards led him away from the warm receiving hall, Varian wavering in his shadow and clinging tightly to his arm. Cass even bristled at the guards’ grip on his shoulders, tight and solid as if he would run. As if he _could_.

“It’s been a rough few days, huh?” He whispered. The slow nod against his chest spoke volumes. Ruddiger chittered quietly, nosing at his neck. “We’ll be outta here soon. The girls’ve got us now.”

Eugene couldn’t help but trust them, somehow. It had only been, what - two? three days? and yet they’d both gotten past his defenses alarmingly quickly. It was the way Rapunzel said his name, as if with that one word she knew him better than he knew himself. It was the way Cass never looked at him again like she had the first time, like she had finally added him up and found him worth the effort. So yeah, he trusted them. He and Varian might spend the night here, but not much longer than that, not if Rapunzel really was the lost princess.

And judging by the pull of the mosaic, her mother’s reaction ( _not her mother_ , he thought with a burst of anger, _old crone_ ), and the magic that sparked between her and Varian. Well. If she wasn’t the princess, he’d willingly live the rest of his days out here in the damp and the moldy.

Bickering rang out from a cell a few doors to their left. The familiar voices were low, words bitten out with spite, and Eugene began to rethink _willingly_.

Varian stirred instantly, going tense against him. “Is that-” he mumbled, frowning, and Eugene nodded.

“Figures they’d end up in the same row.” He expected the tightening of Varian’s grip on his shirt upon recognizing the Stabbingtons’ voices. He _didn’t_ expect the weight to lift off him and go flying towards the front of the cell, dumping Ruddiger in Eugene’s lap and spitting mad, rattling the bars and almost _climbing_ them - He stumbled to his feet, depositing Ruddiger gently on the ground. The pins and needles in his legs almost tripped him, but he managed to lunge forwards and haul Varian back by the scruff of his shirt.

“Hey! Hey, calm _down_ \- Varian, calm down before the guards come back, you can’t _do_ anything right now; do you know how much harder that would make Blondie’s job if she had to argue you out of solitary confinement?” He shook Varian gently, pulling him towards the center of the cell by his arms and wrapping him in a hug. He knew his brother, knew the pressure would settle him. Knew if Varian took a second to breathe, to _actually think_ , he’d let go of all his anger like dew drying in the sun.

“I can’t- _I have to-_ ”

“No,” Eugene pressed. “You don’t. I’m okay now.” He tipped Varian’s face up, brushing a stray tear away. “ _We’re_ okay now. I promise. They don’t matter anymore.”

The struggle in Varian’s eyes hurt to watch. “This isn’t you, Blue. I know it isn’t. Where’s the kid I know, huh? You don’t have to fight anymore.”

His Varian _would_ keep fighting even after the battle’s done. His Varian would throw his all into protecting, to pushing back, to getting what he needed from the world regardless of the consequences. But his Varian hated anger, hated grudges, hated feeling dragged down by a temper and often shied back from rage. His Varian stood before him, burdened by what he’d done in such a short time, tired and guilty and drawn tight.

And his Varian finally crumbled, just a little, letting himself press forwards with a soft cry. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled.

“You already said that, remember?” Eugene held him closer, trying to channel all the comfort he could into the embrace. Ruddiger screeched lightly at their feet, clawing his way up Varian’s trousers and curling around his neck. Eugene stroked his head once, twice, smiling at the rumbling purr he received in response.

Varian choked on a wet laugh. “You were dying and I was basically passed out, I don’t think that counts.” Eugene barely remembered their conversation under the tree - not even a few hours ago, and yet he could only draw fuzzy memories that felt like from another lifetime (and maybe they were, because the memory of what it felt like to die, his own blood coppery and sharp in his mouth, wasn’t much clearer).

He suppressed a shudder, pulling his focus to the present. Most of the fog had lifted from his mind after the healing; Rapunzel’s magic a balm for all the lingering pain and exhaustion - at least, physically. The emotional wounds, how worn _out_ they both were, would only be fixed with time. And, he realized, watching Varian tremble in his grip, with words. “Well, we’re talking now, properly. So listen to me when I say that I _know_ you, kiddo. That anger, it wasn’t all you-”

“That _was_ me!” Varian scrubbed at his eyes, frustrated and ashamed. “ _I_ controlled the rocks, _I_ hurt people because I was hurt!” He blinked, numb horror washing over his face briefly, and lifted a shaking hand to smooth over Ruddiger’s leg. “I don’t-” He hiccuped, staring wide-eyed at his own hands. “I don’t want to be that, but I _am_.”

The rocks - he remembered passing the destruction in his haste to find Varian, remembered fractured walls and houses torn through. It was easy to see the anger written in the paths the rocks had carved, looking back. It was easy to see the fury, chaotic and desperate, in how they criss-crossed and cut uneven chunks out of homes and roads. But he could also see the helplessness, the uneasiness; the hesitance in the unsteady rise of the rocks and their wavering darkness. Varian had needed resolution for his hurt, and sought it in the only way he knew how.

It was a moment before Eugene even knew how to continue. “You’re who you say you are,” he said, voice quiet but unflinching. “You aren’t anything you don’t want to be. You’re smart, you’re kind, and you trust with your whole heart. You’re my dumb little brother, sweet and gentle, and you’re _you_. Okay?” He took a deep breath in, huffing it out past a bittersweet smile. “You know I’m proud of you. _I’m proud of you._ ”

Varian shook his head as if he could hold back more tears. “I’m-”

“-I know.” He held Varian out slightly, reluctant to put distance between them, but determined to send his words home. “We can fix this. But you have to let me _help_.”

The look that passed between them shifted. Varian stared up unblinkingly, eyes wide with guilt and a conflicted grief. Eugene only tightened his grip and let his smile ease into something more comforting, something that said _I love you_ and _never again_.

And all the breath left Varian at once, the boy sagging forwards, finally able to smile for himself. “I really didn’t mean to hurt anyone,” he muttered, voice barely shaking, and Eugene wrapped him in another hug - good thing he had plenty of those to give. “I don’t know what I was thinking; I scared myself.”

“As long as we don’t go through a repeat performance, it’s probably fine,” Eugene joked. “Now, while I have the utmost faith in Cassandra’s ability to intimidate men in positions of authority, it’ll probably still be a fair bit until we bust this place wide open.” He yawned, kneeling before sitting back against the wall, pulling Varian down with him. The ease with which his brother let Eugene manhandle him into a cuddle said everything it needed to.

Varian shifted, movements drowsy, and scooped Ruddiger into his arms once more. “We _could_ , if I had my belt,” he slurred. “The walls are soft enough that a good abrasive, acidic mix could get us out easy. If I just had my chemicals, I could…” He bit back a yawn. “I could...Eugene?”

Eugene’s head drifted forwards to rest against his shoulder, his soft snores filling the brief silence. “Yeah, okay.” Varian adjusted them so the angle of his neck wasn’t so harsh, stretching his legs out so they wouldn’t fall asleep. “I love you,” he whispered. “Thank you for coming back to me.”

He fell asleep before Eugene could reply, but that was okay, because now they had all the time they needed.

* * *

“Do we…” Cass squinted in the dim light, swinging the cell door open a little wider. “I’d feel bad about making them get up.”

Rapunzel only stepped past the bars, bare feet silent on the stone floor and Pascal a little ball against her neck. “They’re so cute,” she breathed, eyes sparkling. It was a welcome contrast to the frustration distorting her expression earlier, but Cass couldn’t blame her - the king, after their proper reunion, had been a _pain_ about releasing the two boys (“wanted criminals”) he’d locked up. “But that can’t be comfortable,” she finished.

Yeah. They sat curled into some kind of odd twisted pile of limbs (and fur, she noticed, when two bright raccoon eyes blinked up from the embrace to stare directly into her soul) in the furthest corner of the cell, along the right wall. She recalled the bedrolls and their camp, and fought down the inexplicable _need_ to watch their faces when they saw a bed for the first time in probably a while.

Cass sighed. “You get the kid, I’ve got Rider.”

“ _Eugene_ ,” Rapunzel reminded with a smile. She kneeled next to them, gently prying Varian out from the other’s tight hold. Sleepy blue eyes blinked up at her, ghosting over her face and hair before Varian shifted towards her almost instinctively, moving slow and tired. “Hi,” she hummed softly. “How does a bed sound?”

“Fantastic.” His voice didn’t raise above a whisper, quiet even as Rapunzel helped him stand. Cass didn’t know much about how his magic worked, or really what he could do outside what she’d seen, but she’d place bets on it being the only force keeping him on his feet. “Eugene?”

“Working on it,” Cass responded, crossing a few quick paces to gently kick at the still-sleeping man’s nearest shoulder. “Hey. Rise and shine, lazy.”

A muffled groan rose up from the limp puddle of bloody fabric and sleep-loose muscles. “Go ‘way, _Cassandra_ ,” he whined, flipping over only to find empty space. “Varian?”

“Here.” That was answer enough. Eugene swatted at Cass’s boot before sitting up, wrestling down a yawn and stumbling to his feet. Cass hovered a hand at his elbow before holding it, letting him lean slightly on her. And then his arm was looped in hers, and somehow they were helping with each other’s weight, and Cass realized just how tired _she_ was. And then Ruddiger fought his way back up to his space on her shoulders, and all she could process was _oh. Warm._

“You okay?” Eugene’s voice went softer, quieter. She nodded. Yeah. They’d be okay.

* * *

Cass’s weight both supporting and leaning into his was a bigger comfort than he’d thought it would be. They took a second together to just _be_ , arms linked tightly, and he took her hand and squeezed it.

She hesitated, then returned the action, and it said everything it needed to.

Rapunzel and Varian still stood in the center of the cell, apparently taking the moment to cling tightly to each other, Pascal curling his tail against Rapunzel’s shoulder and beaming a happy green. For a moment - Eugene could take a deep breath. He could believe they would all be alright. They could rest; have somewhere to let their guards down.

So when they left and Varian hesitated, he didn’t know what to do.

Rapunzel tugged him forwards gently before noticing the frozen look on his face, how his feet remained rooted to the ground. “Varian?”

Varian’s expression twisted, face screwing up with quick tears. “I-I can’t. You said we could fix this, so...” He reached up to pull at a lock of hair, tilting his head to attempt to hide his face. “Isn’t this how? Isn’t this where I deserve to be?”

“ _No,_ Blue-” Eugene’s chest hurt at the thought of his brother thinking this was his fate. Alone in a cell. “I said _together_. We’ll do whatever we can to fix the town, to help where we can, but this isn’t your place. You deserve to be safe. Okay?”

Rapunzel stepped closer, almost directly in Varian’s space, and held both his hands between them. “It doesn’t matter what happened. There is no _way_ I am leaving you down here, Varian. You’re under my protection now - do you know how long I’ve wanted to meet you? Hold you?” Eugene almost bristled - _hey_ , Varian was under his protection too, okay, and he’d done a...passable job of it so far, the past few days were an outlier and shouldn’t be counted - but...he understood her sentiment. And he knew the indescribable gaze between the two was something he shouldn’t dare disturb.

Varian looked stunned, but at least the tears seemed happy instead of pained, and he buried himself in her embrace once more. When they drew back after a few heartbeats, eyes wet, Rapunzel tore her gaze away to smile at the other two. “Sleep time?”

“Sleep time,” Cass agreed.

And if they all somehow ended up piled in a guest bed, unwilling to leave each other; if they all somehow fit perfectly together, like this was were they were meant to be, if _where_ was a family and not a place; and if they felt safer than they’d ever felt (could ever feel anywhere else) -

Well. Eugene could only hold them tighter and let himself drift off, trapped but not confined by the gentle press of three others.

And one raccoon.

And one chameleon.

**Author's Note:**

> eugene is probably very sick of prison at this point. let him have a real bed please


End file.
